“World Humanitarian Day” event jointly organized by Family Planning Association of Nepal (FPAN) and Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) on 19 August 2019, at FPAN auditorium to address the issue of “Marginalized and Vulnerable Population in Disaster Settings”.

World Humanitarian Day-2019 Celebration at FPAN

The United Nations’ (UN) World Humanitarian Day is held on August 19 each year. The day honors all humanitarians who have worked in the promotion of the humanitarian cause, and those who have lost their lives in the cause of duty. It aims to increase public awareness about humanitarian assistance activities worldwide and the importance of international Cooperation. The theme of the World Humanitarian Day for 2019 is “Women in Humanitarian”.

The main objective of this event was to strengthen coordination mechanism amongst the humanitarian actors so that the needs of the marginalized and vulnerable population can be addressed in disaster and crisis situation.

The speakers and panelists consisting of the following personalities spoke of the importance of the adaptable humanitarian work.

SN

Name

Organization

Designation

1

Chudamani Bhandari

Ministry of Health and Population

Chief/ HEDMU/ HEOC

2

Subesh Kayastha

No.1 Disaster Management Division, Nepal Army

Colonel

3

Binod Ghimire

Disaster Management Division Nepal Police

Superintendent of Police

4

Hari Karki

UNFPA

Humanitarian Coordinator

5

Rudra Adhikari

Nepal Red Cross Society

Deputy Director

6

Subhash Shrestha

FPAN

Program Director

They stated that, “World Humanitarian Day” is dedicated to humanitarians worldwide, as well as to increase public understanding of humanitarian assistance activities. The day aims to honor humanitarian workers who have lost their lives or injured themselves in the course of their work, and to acknowledge the ongoing work of humanitarian staff around the world."

The speakers further added that, "as per UN's statistics the total number of people affected by natural disasters has risen over the past decade, and about 211 million people are directly affected each year. Women and children are especially affected because of their ongoing struggles with poverty, insecurity, hunger, poor health and environmental decline. There are new and difficult challenges that arise each year that will require more flexible funding and adaptable humanitarian work. The increasing economic crisis and global challenges such as poverty, global health problems, increase prices and the rising number of people on the move, increases the need for humanitarians each year.”

Family Planing Association of Nepal (FPAN) - An Introduction

Family Planning Association of Nepal (FPAN) envisages a world where every women, men and young person has right and access to sexuality and reproductive health information and services in which SRH choices are fully respected.